Industry Leader Recognizes City of Lakeland for Special Achievement in GIS
LAKELAND, FL (May 20, 2020) | The City of Lakeland was selected to receive a Special Achievement in GIS (SAG) Award for Operation Awareness and Citizen Engagement Solutions by ESRI. ESRI is an international supplier of geographic information system software, web GIS and geodatabase management applications. The company was founded as the Environmental Systems Research Institute in 1969 as a land-use consulting firm and since that time they have become a leader in GIS solutions.
Jack Dangermond, Founder and President of ESRI said, “We solicited nominations from over 100,000 clients worldwide and the City of Lakeland was one of 180 chosen to receive an award based on their outstanding work with GIS technology used to assist in operational awareness and citizen engagement solutions.” A geographic information system (GIS) is a computer system for capturing, storing, checking, and displaying data related to positions on Earth's surface. By relating seemingly unrelated data, GIS can help individuals and organizations better understand spatial patterns and relationships. Dangermond said, “When organizations can visualize geographic data, it makes everyone’s job easier.”
GIS enables organizations to build a database of geographically referenced information and then analyze that information. It is visual, electronic and easy for most people to understand. The City of Lakeland uses GIS to produce intuitive maps to help bring efficiencies and solutions for many municipal services. A number of outward-facing GIS maps can be found at geohub-lakelandflorida.opendata.arcgis.com. The maps are assembled in a series of galleries that include a newly designed COVID-19 dashboard, public safety, citizens services and professional services.
Tracy Kirkpatrick, GIS Manager said, “During the last six months the City of Lakeland has been earning GIS industry accolades and recognition that has been building for years and we are very pleased to be selected to receive a Special Achievement in GIS (SAG) Award by ESRI, the industry leader in GIS solutions.” City of Lakeland staff created public facing dashboards for social media that were used during Hurricane Irma to help manage disaster management needs. Staff also connected with the way finding app, Waze to better manage citizen engagement with traffic and street conditions through a traffic/incident dashboard. The City also uses ESRI to help disseminate business information to provide a better window into daily workflows including a dashboard to help identify utility outages.
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About Lakeland
The City of Lakeland was incorporated in January 1885 and has grown to become one of the largest inland communities in Florida. With a current population over 100,000, Lakeland continues to grow. It has been designated a Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area by the US Census Bureau for over 30 years. With tourist attractions and gulf beaches only an hour away, Lakeland continues to capitalize on its ideal central Florida location along the I-4 corridor. The City owns and operates Lakeland Electric, the third-largest publicly owned utility in Florida and it was one of the first to offer power in the Sunshine State over 110 years ago.
For additional information about the City of Lakeland, please explore lakelandgov.net.
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